It is the first time PSG – ranked the 11th most valuable club in the world by Forbes – have broken the global transfer record, with Real Madrid paying five of the past six highest fees. The deal dwarfs the £89m Manchester United paid Juventus for Paul Pogba last summer – the previous world record.

His departure from Barcelona breaks up the feted attacking trident he formed with Argentina captain Lionel Messi and Uruguay forward Luis Suarez.

On Wednesday, Messi posted on Instagram: “It was a great pleasure to have shared all these years with you my friend Neymar. I wish you good luck in this new stage of your life.” To which Neymar replied: “Thank you brother. I will miss you.”

Neymar in profile

Born in Mogi das Cruzes, a suburb of Sao Paulo, on 5 February 1992

Started his career at Santos after signing a professional contract in January 2009

Remains Santos’ leading goalscorer in the post-Pele era with 138 goals in 229 matches

Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United were all linked before he eventually signed for Barcelona in June 2013 at the age of 21

He made his Barca debut against Levante in August 2013 and went on to score 105 goals and provide 80 assists in 186 games for the Catalan club

Made his international debut aged 18 and he has scored 52 goals in 77 games for Brazil

Neymar at Barcelona last season

Games

Minutes played

Goals

Minutes per goal

Assists

45

3,972

20

199

27

Neymar scored the fastest goal in Olympic history after just 14 seconds against Honduras in the Rio 2016 men’s semi-final

Stepping out of Messi’s shadow? – Neymar stats

In that same period, he had the fifth most direct assists with 38 – again behind Messi (54), Atletico Madrid’s Koke (45), Suarez (43) and Ronaldo (42)

In chances created in that time (287), he was second only to team-mate Messi (326)

He had the highest number of chances created last season (91) – more than any other PSG player (Angel di Maria had 78)

Edinson Cavani scored almost three times as many league goals (35) than Neymar (13) last season

History of the world transfer record

In 1975, Italian Giuseppe Savoldi became football’s first £1m player with his move from Bologna to Napoli. And Britain followed suit four years later, when Nottingham Forest paid Birmingham City £1.2m for England forward Trevor Francis.

Only two players have broken the transfer record twice: Argentina legend Diego Maradona and Brazil great Ronaldo.

Maradona moved from Boca Juniors to Barcelona for £3m in 1982, before joining Napoli two years later for £5m. Ronaldo joined Barcelona for £13.2m in 1996, but left after just one season to join Inter for £19.5m.

Brazil midfielder Kaka (£56m) breached the £50m barrier in 2009 before his new club Real Madrid broke the record again by signing Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United for £80m three weeks later.

The Bernabeu club beat their own record again with their £85m deal with Tottenham for Wales forward Gareth Bale in 2013 – before Manchester United paid £89m for France midfielder Pogba last summer.

Reaction & #NeymarMaths

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho: “Expensive are the ones who get into a certain level without a certain quality. For £200m, I don’t think [Neymar] is expensive.

“I think he’s expensive in the fact that now you are going to have more players at £100m, you are going have more players at £80m and more players at £60m. And I think that’s the problem.

“So I think the problem is not Neymar, I think the problem is the consequences of Neymar.”

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: “Once a country owns a club it becomes very difficult. For me it is the consequence of ownerships which has changed completely the landscape of football.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: “I thought Fair Play was made so that situations like that can’t happen. That’s more of a suggestion than a real rule.”

Lille director general Marc Ingla, a former Barcelona vice president: “It’s a blow for Barcelona. Neymar is an accelerator to this bright future of Ligue 1. The young talent pool we have here is the best in Europe. For sure we can still compete with PSG. Once you get on the pitch it’s 11 v 11 and all the transfer fees and salaries narrow a bit.”

Barcelona’s Arda Turan: “It was a great pleasure to have lived all those unforgettable moments with you my brother. Wish you the best. Always…”

What would 222m euros buy you?

Five Huddersfield Towns – the Premier League new boys are valued at £44m

Effectively, it would buy you Monaco, the 19th most valuable club in the world based on figures from Transfermarkt

You could pay Premier League champions Chelsea’s prize money and broadcast fees for last season and still have change

Or how about buying 1.5 million men’s PSG shirts – the club’s official store are selling the 2017-18 home jersey for 140 euros

In fact, why not splash out on 2 Kensington Palace Gardens. Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal bought the London property in 2004 for £57m (76m euros in today’s market)

Or invest in 1,032 trips to space with Virgin Galactic. A ticket for Sir Richard Branson’s commercial space-line currently costs $250,000

Analysis

BBC Radio 5 live sports news correspondent Richard Conway

Rêvons Plus Grand!”, PSG’s motto, is hard to avoid at their stadium, Parc de Princes.

Translated? “Dream Bigger!”.

Signing Neymar, and obliterating the transfer world record, is certainly living up to that self-imposed ideal.

The club’s owners, Qatari Sports Investment (QSI), are the upstarts within the European game and are determined to disrupt the old order.

QSI is an arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund – so PSG’s ambitions are backed by the enormous natural gas wealth of the Gulf state.

Qatar is locked in a bitter dispute with its Arab neighbours right now – so this transfer has a distinct political overtone as it seeks to show it will not be diminished or cowed by an on-going trade blockade and a diplomatic war of words.

Having secured the World Cup in 2022, PSG is seen in Doha as one of the ways through which the state can achieve its ambitions.

And in Neymar they now have a player it hopes can bridge the gap between Champions League wannabes and serial winners.

Progress towards that target has not been easy so far. Millions spent in transfer fees has delivered plenty of domestic silverware. It is not the success the club truly craves.

A spate of recent quarter-final defeats and last season’s second-leg capitulation to Barcelona in the round of 16 does not reflect the high ambitions of those in charge.

The talk in Paris is of building a dynasty, not merely creating fleeting moments of hope and glory.

As for Uefa’s financial fair play? The regulations have certainly tempered PSG’s elaborate spending in recent seasons but Neymar’s arrival represents a serious challenge to the club in this respect alongside Uefa’s credibility.

The value of this deal – fee and wages – must pass the necessary tests. There’s confidence within PSG’s boardroom that it will not be a significant issue but their accountants will perhaps be as busy as the first team squad in coming months.

In the end, this is an era-defining transfer on a par – in terms of its significance – with Maradona to Napoli, Shearer to Newcastle, Zidane, Ronaldo and Bale to Real Madrid or Pogba to Manchester United.

Those moves all had sporting ambition at their heart. This transfer, for now, is perceived more as a triumph of political and financial considerations.

But this is football. And ultimately this deal will not be judged in the governmental salons of Doha nor on a spreadsheet. Instead, success must be delivered through PSG capturing the club game’s greatest trophy.

Brazilian journalist Fernando Duarte: “This is simply the biggest ever deal in football history.

“We’re talking about a player who has the potential to be one of the best in the world. He has the marketing potential, he’s a natural, unlike Lionel Messi for example who always looks awkward on camera.

“Why should Brad Pitt get $20m for a movie and a football player, who is not going to be playing in his 40s like many sporting stars, shouldn’t?

“One year before the World Cup, he’s going to a club where everything will be resting on his shoulders. If PSG win the Champions League, it will be Neymar’s plaudits. If PSG fail, it will be Neymar’s fault.”

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PSG sign Neymar for world record $263m was last modified: August 3rd, 2017 by agayalord